17-year-old prodigy
Mirra Andreeva is into the Quarter-Finals of the 2024
French Open. A first last eight for the Russian who saw off
Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-2 to set up a clash with Aryna Sabalenka and a funny coincidence.
Andreeva in facing Sabalenka will make it that the Belarusian will face both sisters during her run this tournament. The World No.2 faced her older sibling Erika Andreeva in a rampant win earlier in the tournament and now will take on the younger version who has set the tennis world alight since her emergence last year on the clay court swing.
Likely the first of many for Mirra Andreeva, she will face Sabalenka in a rematch of their Madrid Quarter-Final which went the way of the latter and the 17-year-old will aim to spring a seismic shock against one of the most rampant players so far this tournament. Sabalenka eased past Emma Navarro earlier today and has shown that she means business despite all the talk about Iga Swiatek for instance.
It was two contrasting sets for marvellous Mirra who won the opener 7-5. She seemed to hold the initiative at 4-3 up with a break of serve. But after having the chance to confirm the break, she suffered a late blow in being broken back. Gracheva led and had a set point but spurned it and Andreeva broke back to lead at 6-5 before finally putting the finishing touches on the cake. But the second set was a bit more one sided. She lost her serve at 2-2. But from there, she won every game for the rest of the set albeit in close games. So it could've gone either way. She had a superb match point at 6-2 and sealed the win in rampant style. A first Grand Slam Quarter-Final for Andreeva and another incredible run bookended.
